It’s almost impossible for me to travel and not visit the local markets. Local markets are a sort of community microscope, giving you the quick and dirty essentials you need to get the feel of the local culture. The only problem I faced in visiting the Sonoma/Napa markets was choosing which ones to go to. I had five days, two of which would be mostly travel days. Since we were staying in Santa Rosa, we hit the Saturday farmers’ market.
We apparently brought some of the searing SoCal heat with us on this trip. It was bright and hot out, but it didn’t keep people away.
Ecco Caffe is the a Sonoma coffee roaster with some serious local cred. JJ had called ahead (he’s the coffee connoisseur of the family) to see if they would have their much coveted Ethiopian Wild Forest Limu beans on hand at the SRFM. No, they said, but they’d bring a bag to the market for him. It has since scented the entire hotel room with its aroma. It’s almost caramel like - sweet like toasted cocoa. Too bad we have to wait til we get back to brew it.
Cherries were just coming into season here. These were an early variety called Cavalier from a very small local grower. I was aching for some fruit so I did end up buying some for a hotel snack later.
Like I said before, this is farm country, so everyone has, along with their market gardens, some type of livestock on their property. Every small grower’s stand had eggs in various sizes and colors. And I bet they tasted great. This is something that an uber-urbanized region will generally lack – good, farm fresh eggs.
Mmmmmm sweet limes. Though they looked, and tasted, like sweet lemons. But hey! Tasty!
There was a giant seafood vendor at the Santa Rosa market. And it was almost entirely NorCal seafood. Fresh, and in some cases, ready to take off a finger. Jealousy curdled up inside of me. Sweet, local Dungeness crab?
Something I’ve never seen until coming here – barbequed oysters. These were still raw and living, but marketed specifically for the grill. Color me intrigued. Can you imagine that sweet of-the-sea flavor tinged with the savory smoky goodness of the open flame? That screams to be paired with a wine…maybe even a pinot noir (Gasp! A red with seafood! Yes…I’ve unlearned so many bad habits here. The best food pairing thus far has been a bacon-tinged grilled scallop with an inky dark pinot…and it rocked my world.) This was just one of about six varieties of Pacific oysters they had on hand. I was glassy-eyed with longing.
Greens were everywhere. Even the local restaurants here have their own kitchen gardens full of baby greens. Peppery arugula and lacey frisee seemed to be the most popular.
The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at scenes much like the one above. We roamed and stopped at five different Sonoma wineries. JJ was the designated taster for the day (I’d get my chance on Sunday at Ceja), while I navigated us through the ever winding roads of the Russian River Valley. Gods, that’s some damn pretty country. And the wine…as I wasn’t drinking/swirling/spitting I settled for getting in several deep whiffs. What an education. Inspector Vino would be proud, I think.
Santa Rosa Saturday Farmers’ Market
Saturdays, 8:30AM-12PM
Vets Building P.L.,1351 Maple
May 19, 2008 at 11:32 am
But…but…details, woman!
Which wineries? What got tasted? What got bought?
I don’t get to go until November. Need…help…holding on…
August 21, 2008 at 1:11 pm
[...] in May, JJ and I took a little excursion up north. I’ve already talked about a few of the stops we made while traipsing around wine country. But one place that I haven’t really talked about yet was one [...]